Background

Personality

Hayate seemed to be a calm and composed individual. He was also described as being an individualist, and gentle person.[1] He also had a great sense of duty to his village, as he risked his life to spy on Kabuto Yakushi and Baki.

Appearance

Hayate had short brown hair and dark markings under his eyes. Even though he was a young man, he had pronounced lines under his eyes as well as an unexplained chronic cough that plagued him. He wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit complete with a forehead protector that he wore as a bandanna, flak jacket and regular shinobi sandals. He also carried a katana with a rectangular hand guard strapped over his back. When reincarnated, other than facial cracks, the only change in Hayate's appearance is the grey sclerae common in all the other ninja Kabuto brought back.

As a genin, he wore a simple outfit with a long-sleeved, red-coloured haori,[3] and ¾ length pants with bangles around his wrist and legs. He carried his sword tied to two strings on his hip. He also had dark markings under his eyes which makes it unclear whether or not he was ill since his youth or not.[2]

Abilities

Hayate's signature ability was his skill in kenjutsu. He was highly proficient in the Leaf-Style, and, in the anime, in the Transparent Escape Technique, which gave him praise from the Third Hokage. He was also able to use high-level techniques such as the Shadow Clone Technique without hand seals; in addition, he could also use the two skills together for the Dance of the Crescent Moon, an advanced technique to distract the enemy while the user attacks the enemy's blind spot. Notably, Hayate also had excellent tracking and stealth skills, having remained undetected for a considerable period of time while spying on Orochimaru's right-hand man. In the anime, he also showed proficiency with taijutsu and was able to hold his own during his confrontation with Naruto Uzumaki.[4] He could sniff that a war is occurring by the smell of blood of many thousands although he was far away from the battlefields, testimony to a great sense of smell. He showed himself to be very nimble and quick thinking, able to effectively maneuver through a barrage of rock projectiles while still moving in for an attack.

Baki commented that the village had many talented ninja after seeing Hayate's skill at such a young age. Overall, his skills were great enough that Kabuto Yakushi, in the anime, chose to reincarnate Hayate. In a few instances, Hayate has been able to prevent the commands he is given, even if his personality is erased, a feat very few that are reincarnated have managed to accomplish.[5][6]

Stats

Part I

Chūnin Exam Arc

Hayate and the other jōnin stop Neji from fatally injuring Hinata.

At first sight, Hayate appeared to be not in the best of health, as he had an unexplained chronic cough and eye bags. He, however, is scheduled to be the proctor during the final rounds of the Chūnin Exams, and as such, oversees the preliminary matches that will decide who advances to the final round. During the battle between Neji and Hinata Hyūga after an enraged Neji prepared to attack Hinata with the intent of killing her, he along with the other jōnin present stopped him from doing so.

Hayate attacks Baki.

After the preliminaries were completed and the participants were given a chance to train and recuperate, Hayate learned of Sunagakure and Otogakure's plans to invade Konoha overhearing the conversation between Baki and Kabuto Yakushi. Before he can escape to tell the Third Hokage what he had learned, he was sensed by the two and chased down. As he faced off with Baki, Hayate used his Dance of the Crescent Moon technique on Baki, however the swing of his blade was too shallow and got stuck in his flak jacket. As Baki praised him for his skill and effort, he used his Blade of Wind technique to kill Hayate. Genma Shiranui then replaced Hayate as proctor for the Chūnin Exam finals.

In the anime, it was shown that he was hit multiple times with wind discs and then had Kabuto take away his DNA and smell.

Part II

Chikara Arc

In the anime, after the Five Kage Summit, Hayate's grave was defiled by Kabuto, and he was later reincarnated for the massacre in Tonika Village. Hayate confronted and almost killed Dokku until his movements stopped during the finishing strike.[5] He was summoned again to battle Team Kakashi, who were investigating the massacre that Kabuto brought about to gain access to The Hole.[7] Hayate confronted Sakura Haruno and was punched a ways away by the kunoichi while she apologised for attacking her fellow Konoha comrade. This, however, proved futile as Hayate began to reconstruct from the attack.[7] Hayate was returned to his coffin as Kabuto and his other reincarnated shinobi retreated.[5]

Hayate attacks Naruto.

The next day, he was again forced to fight against his former comrades and took on a dramatically weakened Naruto, attacking him with taijutsu and defeating him with the Dance of the Crescent Moon.[4] Hayate was summoned to battle once more when the Ama no Hoko was activated. He, along with Kabuto's other reincarnated shinobi, were planted with explosive clay by Deidara and used as suicide bombers. Rather than reforming upon exploding as those reincarnated by Kabuto typically would, Hayate and the others instead turned to dust, with the bodies of the sacrifices used to reincarnate them falling out.[8]

Shinobi World War Arc

In the anime, Hayate was reincarnated by Kabuto to assist him in finding corpses of elite shinobi to be used as tools against the Allied Shinobi Forces. When he is reincarnated, Hayate immediately recognises Kabuto, and asks him what happened leading up to and after his death. Kabuto takes a moment to explain the failed invasion and the effects of his death. After explaining this to Hayate, he reincarnates a Sunagakure shinobi and a Kumogakure shinobi to go retrieve the KIA scroll from the Logistical Support and Medical Division. While attacking the Medical Camp, he spotted his lover Yūgao Uzuki.[9] After escaping with the scroll, Hayate and the other reincarnated shinobi were pursued by a small group, including Yūgao. While the other two reincarnated shinobi are quickly sealed away, Yūgao finds herself unable to fight Hayate. Later, she mustered the courage to face Hayate. As Hayate congratulates Yūgao on her improved skills and admits that he is happy he could see her again, Kabuto begins taking full control of him. Feeling his consciousness slipping away, Hayate quickly charges Yūgao, giving her the opportunity to subdue him. The reinforcements then arrive and Hayate is sealed away.[10]

Trivia

The name "Gekkō" means "moonlight" and "Hayate" means "quick as wind" or "hurricane". Both are names of Japanese fighter planes from World War II.

Despite his relatively minor role, Hayate placed in the top 10 of the character popularity poll following his death and has continued to rank in the top 20.

Although his lover, Yūgao Uzuki, swore to avenge his death, Baki and the rest of Sunagakure have since become allies.

Although the Chikara Arc and Hayate's appearance during the war are both anime fillers, Sakura addresses him as "Hayate-sensei" in one and "Hayate-san" in the other.

In an omake in the anime, Hayate appears in one of Naruto's "dreams" along with the third Hokage, telling him that it is time to leave. Written on Naruto's ceiling states, "Be sure to visit my grave sometime, and make sure to bring Konohamaru with you!" - signed The Third and Hayate.

In another omake in the Shippūden anime, Hayate makes a brief appearance as a ghost, floating behind Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno who are walking through the forest from a festival. Hiruzen shows up soon after and scares them near to death.